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I think this is an indication that Sumitomo believes in the future of the Charlotte market because they paid off a LOT of debt to get Crescent. This isn't about getting what Crescent already has done, but about what they think it can do in the future with their pockets backing development (they do $10 billion in revenue per year). Also, it a time of rising construction costs, being vertically integrated with a raw material producer of timber has to have some advantages.

"Mansfield said they are also paying off Crescent's $380 million worth of outstanding corporate debt, plus assuming all of the company's unspecified outstanding debts on their development projects. "It was a very healthy premium to our book value," Mansfield said."

Edited April 27, 2018 by CLT2014

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I tend to lean that way also... only counterpoint I have is: when everything is going great at a company you don't sell. Just trying to understand the Crescent side of the story better -- which is easy to dismiss as them cashing out.

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Everything I read so far points to this being access to capital type of move - if that's what it is, this is a huge confidence boost for the local economy:

Quote

"It's been a long courtship," said Mansfield. Sumitomo and Crescent started testing the waters in 2017, when they joined in a $37 million joint venture to develop upscale apartments at Atherton Mills. "It was a perfect opportunity to get to know them."

Mansfield said the new owners will be able to help Crescent design and build more innovative projects.

"I hope we learn from the Japanese," he said. "They are masters of mixed-use development."

It's certainly no mystery to our people or the capital markets that our owners, who have owned the company since 2010, were not envisioning to own the company for 20 years. At some point, after we grew and created the success in this new economic era, our owners would be looking to sell their interests to someone else. We’ve had our ear to the ground for a few years. We’ve had a lot of folks come see us (to talk about) our future and what we’re thinking about.

...

One part of this transaction will result in the elimination of corporate debt. It increases our investment capital base by about 40% and gives us more resources to do more things and maybe in more places. The thing that was very intriguing to me is the synergy between their company and ours. They are a long-term owner and are 320-plus years old. High-quality real estate does require long-term vision. We’re extremely excited about that.

They have capital strength as well. They will bring some new ideas we might be able to implement — maybe some of the very advanced mixed-use development that goes on in Japan. What has been encouraging to me and our other leadership team members, and I think what built the foundation for us ultimately, is that their values and philosophy as a company directly parallels with Crescent's vision and values. We see things the same way. They're super committed to the environment, sustainability and corporate responsibility ... a lot of companies outside the U.S. are more advanced on that compared to us, and we love that. They're an idea company; that’s one of their core values. One of our core values is innovation and being curious.

...

In our current structure, we have not put a great deal of emphasis on mega (mixed-use developments). We’re doing Stonewall, which is a very big project, we’re doing Ally Charlotte Center, but in our current environment, we’ve been focused on turning capital very quickly. With a longer-term horizon, we have to learn a lot more. We answered the (request for qualifications) for the North Tryon (Vision Plan). We're also working with some other major land owners downtown for decades-long projects. I’m not sure that we would have done that six months ago but with this appetite for complex mixed use, those are the kinds of things that might be more on the horizon (for us).

Watch this space

Missed a couple quotes (something that led me to start this thread)

Quote

Generally speaking, it's not a significant change. They will become directors of our company along with a member of management and substitute for our current board of directors. They have told us, particularly in regards to our people and strategy, that they haven’t seen anything (they want) to change. They want to see us do more things.

Crescent has been through change in the past, not all of which has been comforting, but I know there will be changes. I don’t think it will be particularly cataclysmic but I think their ideas and experiences will hopefully help us ... (but) they’re not coming with a list of things they want changed.

" ...the partnership’s performance over the last decade or so, makes some economic development and regional elected officials nervous. I reached out to a number of them this spring to try to assess how the Charlotte region stacked up against its so-called “peer cities” such as Nashville, Denver, and Austin after the Amazon decision. Most declined to speak on the record; some didn’t want to talk at all. But those who did expressed some degree of worry about whether Charlotte’s economic development organizations—the regional partnership in particular—are keeping up with rival urban areas whose leaders increasingly think and work together on large-scale regional problems such as job recruitment, transportation, and economic opportunity."

"Right, wrong, or indifferent, Atlanta learned the hard way that being parochial was a sure bet toward congestion, deteriorating air and water quality, and quality of life,” says Brian Leary, the president of Crescent Communities’ commercial and mixed-use business unit, who moved to Charlotte from Atlanta in 2014. In Atlanta, Leary held management and executive positions at a series of real estate development firms and served as president and CEO of the massive Atlanta BeltLine urban redevelopment project. Governments and agencies in the metro area, he said, “have figured out a way to come together and row in the same direction.” Leary, also a member of the Charlotte Chamber’s board of directors, adds that he doesn’t see the same level of regionalism in Charlotte—perhaps because it’s still trying to adjust to its relatively new status as a “major city” that serves as an economic hub for a far broader area.'

'We are on the verge of becoming a true Southeastern metropolis, which is a distinct difference from being a strong Southeastern city,” Leary says. “As the world really competes region versus region, as we grow up and shed our kind of awkward teenage years, what we do now ... will establish whether or not we’re successful in the decades ahead.”

“If we don’t keep an eye on this, competing regionally, it’ll be very easy to think parochially and inward and say, ‘Well, I don’t necessarily need anyone else in this region to be successful,’” says Crescent’s Brian Leary. “The sooner we start doing this, day in and day out, the better off we’ll be.”

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'We are on the verge of becoming a true Southeastern metropolis, which is a distinct difference from being a strong Southeastern city,” Leary says. “As the world really competes region versus region, as we grow up and shed our kind of awkward teenage years, what we do now ... will establish whether or not we’re successful in the decades ahead.”

“If we don’t keep an eye on this, competing regionally, it’ll be very easy to think parochially and inward and say, ‘Well, I don’t necessarily need anyone else in this region to be successful,’” says Crescent’s Brian Leary. “The sooner we start doing this, day in and day out, the better off we’ll be.”

I agree, there's cause for worry. The NCGA handed our film and TV industry to Georgia and continues to bow to the religious far-right painting North Carolina as an intolerant place. Are we investing in our unique strengths, our "brand(s)"? More peaches are grown in SC than GA, but say "peach" and no one thinks of Gaffney. NC should be the adventure travel center of eastern North America with our mountains, rivers, great sounds, lakes, OBX, etc..... no one can touch us. Does the rest of world know this? Nope. If we had a film and TV industry they would, and it would give us incalculable free PR.

It's OK to move to NC to make some money as a young professional, but long-term, are they staying? The data says no. We need to attract AND keep people here. Productive, creative, entrepreneurial people like to live in places that are exciting and diverse. California may be losing people, New York State, Connecticut and New Jersey too, but metro LA, NYC (the tri-state), are booming and gaining population. Boston is doing great. These aren't exactly low-tax havens.

The future globally is competition between city-states. Charlotte (and Raleigh) and NC better act now if we are going to compete with the top-tier for the greatest ROI, or be resigned to fight for scraps among the hordes of mediocre and bottom-feeding cities, regions, and states. We should have had a rail connection to the airport and an intermodal center 5 years ago....

Rant and soapbox put up for tonight.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Phillydog

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It's OK to move to NC to make some money as a young professional, but long-term, are they staying? The data says no. We need to attract AND keep people here. Productive, creative, entrepreneurial people like to live in places that are exciting and diverse. California may be losing people, New York State, Connecticut and New Jersey too, but metro LA, NYC (the tri-state), are booming and gaining population. Boston is doing great. These aren't exactly low-tax havens.

There is a lot of space between having the young professionals who move here stay and trying to become NYC, Boston, LA or SF. Charlotte is never going to become NYC, Boston, LA, and SF. If people are enamored with those places my suggestion is to move there rather than try to make Charlotte & Raleigh like those places.

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There is a lot of space between having the young professionals who move here stay and trying to become NYC, Boston, LA or SF. Charlotte is never going to become NYC, Boston, LA, and SF. If people are enamored with those places my suggestion is to move there rather than try to make Charlotte & Raleigh like those places.

Far from being enamored by top tier cities, the last trend has young professionals moving to THIRD-tier cities. Think Louisville, Richmond, Birmingham, etc. While some on here bemoan the fact we only have two light rail lines, youngins are flocking to cities which have no rail and no rail on the horizon. It's almost as if their priorities are askew, placing jobs and affordability over transit.

2018 Best Cities for Job Growth. Charlotte was 5th best out of 71 large cities. (See chart & link below)

"The data reflect the North American Industry Classification System categories, including total nonfarm employment, manufacturing, financial services, business and professional services, educational and health services, information, retail and wholesale trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality, and government. Large cities include those with a current non-farm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs."

Like the Charlotte Chamber's assessment posted above by @KJHburg Newgeography also confirmed that Charlotte was the 3rd fastest growing city in the nation.

Fastest Growing Municipalities

"(1) Seattle: The city of Seattle has emerged as the decade’s growth leader. Seattle has added 116,000 new residents since the 2010 Census and 17,000 since 2016. The resulting annual growth rates of 2.47 percent and 2.44 percent are the strongest among the municipalities with more than 500,000 population. Seattle accounted for 27 percent of the metropolitan area growth, more than its share of the population, which rose from 17.7 percent in 2010 to 18.7 percent in 2017."

"(2) Fort Worth: This second largest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex placed second in population growth between 2016 and 2017, with an increase rate of 2.18 percent. This is slightly below the 2.23 annual rate achieved since the 2010 Census, which was the fourth largest."

"(3) Charlotte: The third fastest growing city was Charlotte, which added 1.84 percent to its population in 2017. However, reflecting the overall rate, Charlotte’s most recent year gain was below its rate since 2010, which was 2.16 percent."

"(4) Columbus: The capital of Ohio is emerging as one of the nation’s growth leaders, as was already indicated in the metropolitan area data. Last year, Columbus ranked fourth in growth, at 1.79 percent."

"(5) San Antonio: San Antonio was the fifth fastest growing large municipality, adding 1.63 percent in 2017. This was slightly below its 1.81 percent rate since 2010. Reflecting the slower growth among the largest municipalities, this higher growth rate earned a lower ranking, at 7th."

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There is a lot of space between having the young professionals who move here stay and trying to become NYC, Boston, LA or SF. Charlotte is never going to become NYC, Boston, LA, and SF. If people are enamored with those places my suggestion is to move there rather than try to make Charlotte & Raleigh like those places.

You dont have to be LA or NY but, from there are features from both, andmother "great" cities that we should aspire to. As I said, being mediocre is easy, but I think NC and Charlotte, Raleigh, etc., are better than that. I would rather aspire to be great than aspire to be boring and safe. If you want boring and safe, move to Topeka or Waco, Texas.

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You dont have to be LA or NY but, from there are features from both, andmother "great" cities that we should aspire to. As I said, being mediocre is easy, but I think NC and Charlotte, Raleigh, etc., are better than that. I would rather aspire to be great than aspire to be boring and safe. If you want boring and safe, move to Topeka or Waco, Texas.

Charlotte is already better than Topeka or Waco... Just what are some of the items from those great cities that you want Charlotte to reach for?

Are you looking to replicate museums and universities that have a head start of 150 years or billions in endowments? Or do you just want to skip forward to the price of housing being so unaffordable that only the elite can become landowners? Or should we start structuring public sector contracts to where 50% of the current spend goes to golden pensions and cadillac benefits rather than the service provided? Maybe just skip ahead to the suffocating property taxes to build ghettoes of public housing complexes?

I never said that Charlotte shouldn't move forward but there is nothing wrong with smart and sustainable growth. It's a process and a journey that every city needs to go through. NYC, the greatest city in the world, once had 5 points and porn shops in Times Square. Tribeca was a slum when Robert de Niro filmed The Godfather. If you don't have the patience to try and grow in a way to avoid some of these issues, my suggestion to rent a u-haul and advance to Park Place stands. Overall, I am happy with the growth trajectory of Charlotte but absolutely understand things need to be improved. We need to reach for what we can from the great and lasting cities, while at the same time, trying to avoid being the Buffalo and Cleveland of the back half of this century.

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Charlotte is already better than Topeka or Waco... Just what are some of the items from those great cities that you want Charlotte to reach for?

Are you looking to replicate museums and universities that have a head start of 150 years or billions in endowments? Or do you just want to skip forward to the price of housing being so unaffordable that only the elite can become landowners? Or should we start structuring public sector contracts to where 50% of the current spend goes to golden pensions and cadillac benefits rather than the service provided? Maybe just skip ahead to the suffocating property taxes to build ghettoes of public housing complexes?

I never said that Charlotte shouldn't move forward but there is nothing wrong with smart and sustainable growth. It's a process and a journey that every city needs to go through. NYC, the greatest city in the world, once had 5 points and porn shops in Times Square. Tribeca was a slum when Robert de Niro filmed The Godfather. If you don't have the patience to try and grow in a way to avoid some of these issues, my suggestion to rent a u-haul and advance to Park Place stands. Overall, I am happy with the growth trajectory of Charlotte but absolutely understand things need to be improved. We need to reach for what we can from the great and lasting cities, while at the same time, trying to avoid being the Buffalo and Cleveland of the back half of this century.

Funny you should mention Buffalo. Half of Buffalo has moved to Charlotte.

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Charlotte is already better than Topeka or Waco... Just what are some of the items from those great cities that you want Charlotte to reach for?

Are you looking to replicate museums and universities that have a head start of 150 years or billions in endowments? Or do you just want to skip forward to the price of housing being so unaffordable that only the elite can become landowners? Or should we start structuring public sector contracts to where 50% of the current spend goes to golden pensions and cadillac benefits rather than the service provided? Maybe just skip ahead to the suffocating property taxes to build ghettoes of public housing complexes? You were clearly offended by my post.

I never said that Charlotte shouldn't move forward but there is nothing wrong with smart and sustainable growth. It's a process and a journey that every city needs to go through. NYC, the greatest city in the world, once had 5 points and porn shops in Times Square. Tribeca was a slum when Robert de Niro filmed The Godfather. If you don't have the patience to try and grow in a way to avoid some of these issues, my suggestion to rent a u-haul and advance to Park Place stands. Overall, I am happy with the growth trajectory of Charlotte but absolutely understand things need to be improved. We need to reach for what we can from the great and lasting cities, while at the same time, trying to avoid being the Buffalo and Cleveland of the back half of this century.

Charlotte, today, is not a "great" city, but few places are. I'm saying Charlotte can be "great", and being "great" doesn't mean having "to be" ________ (fill in your own blank). There a many matrices that seek to quantify what makes a city "great". Pick one. You assume I think it's high property taxes, slums, revitalized neighborhoods, organic growth, design mistakes, public housing ghettoes, wealthy neighborhoods, fancy schools, and fine arts palaces. I assume you don't think a great city should aspire to great universities and museums because low density sprawl will save us from expensive housing. You seem to think that cities are prefabricated places that have to be programmed to avoid nasty things like poor people, sex shops, public service, and neon signs. Beige is a not my favorite color, but hey, knock yourself out. It's safe and predicatable. It's easy to turn your nose up to places like NYC, Boston, Buffalo, etc because in your mind, their taxes are high because they made poor planning decisions and people "up there" are just lazy and greedy. It couldn't be that their infrastructure is 100 years older than ours and isnt brand spanking new. May be those wealthy snobs and poor, lazy, greedy people "up North" should gut their public schools so no one reads on better than an 8th grade level nationwide.

Assumptions are bad things. How does it feel? Or, may be we just spent a part of our lives generally misrepresenting one another and neither one of us trying to understand what the other is saying?

I think we agree, Charlotte will be greatest city possible. One tool to help us is to learn from the examples in other places. What works and what doesn't. Is it applicable to us today. Cities grow over time, and evolve.

I'll add, and you may agree or not, development follows transportation. The Earth is not flat.

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I assume you don't think a great city should aspire to great universities and museums because low density sprawl will save us from expensive housing. You seem to think that cities are prefabricated places that have to be programmed to avoid nasty things like poor people, sex shops, public service, and neon signs. Beige is a not my favorite color, but hey, knock yourself out. It's safe and predicatable. It's easy to turn your nose up to places like NYC, Boston, Buffalo, etc because in your mind, their taxes are high because they made poor planning decisions and people "up there" are just lazy and greedy. It couldn't be that their infrastructure is 100 years older than ours and isnt brand spanking new. May be those wealthy snobs and poor, lazy, greedy people "up North" should gut their public schools so no one reads on better than an 8th grade level nationwide.

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I absolutely think Charlotte should reach for things like great universities and museums. I am just not naive enough to think those things happen overnight and I think it's silly to make comparisons to those with a 150-year head start and billions more in funding to play with. I am also not turning my nose up on places like NYC or Boston, I love NYC and think it's in many regards the center of the world. I just am grounded in reality as to how it's different from a city like Charlotte.

I will turn my nose up on places like Buffalo because I am familiar with all of the mistakes they made in the past and continue to make today. There absolutely is a level of greed that exists but you need to pull the wool from your eyes to see it. They also fund their schools rather well and much more than North Carolina but sadly there are ignorant people who equate school funding with a path to results. I assume because they don't have the courage to address the actual issues that our education system faces.

7 hours ago, Phillydog said:

Assumptions are bad things. How does it feel? Or, may be we just spent a part of our lives﻿ generally misrepresenting one another and neither one of us trying to understand what the other is saying?

I think we agree, Charlotte will be greatest city possible. One tool to help us is to learn from the examples in other places. What works and what doesn't. Is it applicable to us today. Cities grow over time, and evolve.

I'll add, and you may agree or not, development follows transportation. The Earth is not flat.﻿﻿﻿

4

Assumptions are bad but ignorance and naivete are worse. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanity. Charlotte needs to work on being the best version of itself. Charting a course on envy is a dead end. There is a reason why half of the people in Charlotte moved here from other places. It's not because those places were great....

I also didn't make any assumptions about your position. Here is what I said:

There is a lot of space between having the young professionals who move here stay and trying to become NYC, Boston, LA or SF. This is a fact.

Charlotte is never going to become NYC, Boston, LA, and SF. This is a fact.

If people are enamored with those places my suggestion is to move there rather than try to make Charlotte & Raleigh like those places. This is a suggestion based on the above.

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My 2019 Predictions someone has to get this started......
1. Lowes will open a new tech office in Charlotte near uptown or SouthEnd
2. More corporate relocations of various sizes mainly from the tri-state area of NY NJ CT
3. Apartment boom continues but at slower pace and spreads out to suburbs and northeast towards UNCC
4. More developments announced along BLE towards the university area including office developments closer in
5. Another major office tower will be announced in SouthEnd excluding the Spectrum and Portman proposals.
6. Legacy 3 will be announced (office hotel or residential to be determined)
7. The 77 toll express lanes will finally open and much to everyone surprise people will actually use them
8. Airport continues to grow with additional domestic and international service
9. Housing market continues to chug along price increases slow but affordable homes under $250K remain red hot.
10. More townhome developments are announced all over town
11. More tilt up warehouses tilt up all over the region
12. Rea Farms Village attracts major office tenant in Providence 485 market
13. Ballantyne development starts up again with 1-2 new buildings
14. SouthPark Mall lures a few new to market retailers
15. Eastland site finally gets going with some development work
16. Levine land holdings further sit idle but another parcel is sold off to be developed by someone else
17. North Tryon corridor gets going with some BIG bang announcements
18. Publix on N Tryon gets underway as apart of the 10 Tryon development
19. Capitol Towers 3 in SouthPark attracts new to market tenant
20. Surrounding counties especially Union, Cabarrus, Gaston and York heat up even more
21. Some BIG job announcements are announced elsewhere in NC
22. Record low unemployment in 2019 across the state
23. Charlotte attracts another big event for a future year
24. More QuikTrips are built around the region and Krispy Kreme finally admits its HQ is in Charlotte
25. KJ is spotted more around town at Superica, Sabor, Krispy Kreme and Ruth’s Chris and Chuys. He buys new camera too.

I couldn't find a thread for the River District so I made one. I happen to be really excited about the River District, Most U.S. Major cities are on a river. Charlotte is near a river but not on it and I think River District will fill that hole, Most cities that have a river have lots of shopping and dining options along the river.

Since we have a Charlotte Greenways thread, I figured we should dedicate a thread to parks in general.
So, in 2nd Ward topic @kermit brought up the ParkScore by the Trust for Public Land: http://parkscore.tpl.org/city.php?city=Charlotte
I initially replied there, but this subject should be discussed in depth - and I could not find a thread that was dedicated to Parks overall (not just greenways). In my reply I compare it to Seattle - http://parkscore.tpl.org/city.php?city=Seattle
The CharMeck Parks and Recreation website has details on all existing parks: https://www.mecknc.gov/ParkandRec/Parks/Pages/default.aspx

Haven't seen any news articles on this yet but ZipCar will be expanding into Uptown/Southend this summer. The city is providing 6 on-street locations and Zipcar will be providing 6 off-street locations. This is a 2 year pilot after which the city will decide to make it permanent or not.
Some sample Zipcar locations will be:
-Romere Bearden Park
-UNCC/First Ward Park
-New Bern Station
Charlotte has been really late to the game in getting a car sharing service but glad it is finally arriving. This will give those of us that live downtown and don't own a car another transportation option for those longer in-city trips where transit takes too long or isn't available.
I think the city should also partner with Car2Go. I have used this service in DC before and it's a nice alternative to uber/lyft if you don't mind driving yourself...plus you can park wherever you want as long as it its a legal parking spot.